“Meltdown” Causes Southwest Airlines Cancellations While Travelers Try to Stay Positive at Love Field

On Tuesday morning, you didn’t have to look hard to see plenty of signs that things had not been going well for a certain segment of holiday travelers. Even if one had somehow missed seeing the headlines and social media posts generated by Southwest Airlines’ cancellation of over 2,800 flights on Monday and 2,400 more on Tuesday, things were clearly off-kilter throughout the Love Field terminal.

The bad news began late last week as weather-related cancellations began in the wake of the winter storms that surged through much of the United States. By Monday morning, however, more cancellations were being announced even though the severe weather had lightened up in many major Southwest hubs. Some national media outlets went so far as to write that the airline is having a “meltdown” that isn’t necessarily related only to bad weather.

The airline issued a statement on Monday, saying “with consecutive days of extreme winter weather across our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our customers and employees in a significant way that is unacceptable.”

The “continuing challenges” seem to be stemming from the company’s scheduling software not being able to handle the demand created by the initial delays and cancellations. Ensuring there were aircraft available in the same place and time that crews were also available to staff the flights became a manual function that has caused chaos.

Such a catastrophic scenario would bring attention at any point in the year, but especially so during the holiday season. For every canceled flight, dozens, or in some cases, hundreds of passengers tried to book new flights online or by phone. Those systems, too, became overtaxed, leading to a lack of answers and an increase in frustration.

Passengers were not the only ones taking notice of the mess. On Monday morning the U.S. Department of Transportation tweeted “USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service. The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.”

The most obvious signs inside the airport that something was amiss were the actual signs displaying the status of pending flights. Red stripes reading “Cancelled” dominated the boards for arrivals and departures, with several more sections displaying yellow “New Time” notifications.

Instead of a steady stream of passengers making their way from their arrival gates to the rental car counters in Love Field’s terminal on Tuesday, there was barely a stream of people trickling in. And speaking of rental cars, the only thing shorter than the TSA security check lines were those in front of the Avis, Budget and Hertz counters, because there were hardly any vehicles available by that time. The eerie quiet of the terminal being interrupted only when a single boarding announcement was heard seemed relatively momentous.

It didn’t take long to see where everyone was, however. They were in the lines snaking away from the Southwest ticket counters. The unsettling calm from the other side of the terminal wasn’t anywhere to be found there. Two different television news crews from Spanish language stations were taking in the scene, one that was filled with travelers looking defeated and incredulous.

Airline employees standing along the roped-off, zig-zagging paths seemed apologetic to those who walked by, but had nothing new to offer. “Was your flight canceled?” one Southwest Airlines employee asked a couple, each pulling a rolling suitcase behind them. “OK, yes, stay in this line then. I’m sorry about all this.”

Two of the passengers in one of the gargantuan lines at the Southwest ticket counter on Tuesday were Ryan King of Tulsa, and Jessica Van of Dallas. They were decked out in the orange of the Oklahoma State University Cowboys. They had tickets to fly to Phoenix to see their favorite football team play in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Tuesday night, but a delayed flight meant they would be arriving barely in time for kickoff.

Even worse, they had been told their Wednesday flight to return to Dallas had already been canceled. The pair admitted they were still holding out hope for good results, but had not been encouraged by how difficult it had been to contact anyone from the airline regarding either of their flights. In fact, they hadn’t yet been able to talk to anyone.

John Watson, his wife and two young children sat together on the second level of the terminal in the Love Landing, where they were waiting for the latest news on their flight’s status. The family was hoping to make it to Midland to see Watson’s father on Tuesday. The family trip began a couple of days ago in Thailand, where they live. They had already caught a connecting flight from Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, to Love Field on Tuesday morning, but the trouble began when the family touched down in Dallas.

“I was actually happy to be flying Southwest,” Watson said as his kids played a flight simulator game on a tablet next to him. “It’s always seemed like a laid-back airline that’s cheaper than most and has shorter flights, but we hit some pretty bad luck here, I guess.”

There weren’t many sure options available for the Watsons at that point in the morning. They were on a standby list for a 5 p.m. flight, which was still more than six hours away. It would be 4 p.m. at least until they found out if they would get on that flight, but that was far from a done deal.

Watson had looked into Greyhound bus tickets and had even found a long-distance taxi available that would get his group to Midland for $600. He figured either of those options would be better than his elderly dad driving from Midland by himself to pick them up at Love Field.

According to a CNN report, 87% of cancellations on Tuesday were Southwest Airlines flights. Reading the writing on the terminal wall, Americana singer-songwriter Drew Kennedy, who was set to fly with his wife and two kids from Maryland to San Antonio, managed to secure a rental car to get out of town, but only after they turned in the one from a different company that they had been driving for the previous few days.

The family had been visiting relatives for the holidays and had received a text at 3 a.m. on Tuesday that their 9:30 a.m. flight was scratched. The soonest they could possibly secure a flight for four people would be Jan. 4, he was told.

The Kennedys planned to stay in Nashville on Tuesday night. It’s a town Kennedy has driven to from Texas many times over the years to write songs with other artists, but this type of Music City trip is a new one for him. He said he’s flown on Southwest over 50 times this year, and he’s not sure how something like this could happen in an industry where there are so many “fail safes for the planes, but not for the systems they use outside of the planes.”

“Could it have been worse for us? Yes, it could have,” he said over the phone as he drove his family through Virginia on Tuesday. “But does it also seem like it’s been an extreme failure on Southwest’s part? Absolutely, yes. To me, it doesn’t seem like it’s been handled above board.”

A similar “the glass is half-full” approach is where Watson had decided to leave things until he heard more about a possible new flight. After all, the airport was full of people who were having just as rough of a day as he was. “Right now, I feel like things could be worse, especially since we’re traveling with kids,” he said. “I’m just trying to stay positive right now.”